A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c18.106

c18.106

Father Manrique spent about a month at Agra in December, 1640 and January, 1641, and thence travelled to Lahore where he met Father de Castro. He thus had ample opportunities of learning facts as well as gossip, and, moreover, he was on friendly terms with the greatest of the Muhammadan nobles, Āsaf Khān, ‘the ancient and only protector of the priests,’ and father of the Lady of the Tāj, who gave him ‘a goodly alms’. Geronimo Veroneo died at Lahore as stated, but was buried at Agra, some four hundred miles distant, where his tomb, dated a. d. 1640, still exists. Before his death he had spent money, presumably a considerable sum, to ransom Christians from prison. Father Manrique’s accuracy is thus confirmed on several points, and the fact that Veroneo’s body was removed to Agra for burial indicates that he must have been a person of considerable importance and specially connected with Agra.